Curing agents, or hardeners, are used to react with a monomer, such as epoxy, isocyanate, acid anhydride etc, to produce a hardened polymeric resin.
The resulting resins are employed in a wide range of industries and in a wide range of applications. The chemical and physical properties of the resulting resins vary widely, primarily depending on the choice of monomer and of the curing agent.
There is an ongoing demand for resins having improved physical and chemical properties, particularly for use in demanding applications, such as for use in aerospace composite materials. Of particular interest are resins which have a high modulus and with less tendency to absorb water. A resin with increased modulus provides improved compression, flexure and tensile properties in composite materials in which they are employed.
It would therefore be highly desirable to develop new curing agents which can produce resins having increased modulus and less tendency to absorb water.